Happy New Year! cough cough

I lasted until New Year's Eve before succumbing to a horrible cold? virus? respiratory infection? What ever it is it put me down in bed for a couple of days. I'm still sick, but recovering. And as long as I keep warm I do okay, but getting cold brings on the coughs. Oh well. Opposition in all things.

TopDad and I talked about resolutions today. I'm not making any. I'm setting one goal. The goal is to get rid of the piles in our home. Piles of excess everything. I feel like my house is too small, but the truth is I have too much stuff! Hence the goal to get rid of it. I can use it up, trash it, sell it, or donate it, but it must be gotten rid of. No more piles, boxes, bags, overstuffed cupboards and closets, no more useful articles languishing unused and hidden away.

I'm praying for emotional strength, because I'm a keeper, not a tosser, and it will take divine help to overcome my weaknesses.

As soon as I get well, that is. I'm too physically weak to begin just yet. But watch out stuff, I'm getting my game plan together and you won't be safe around me.

Hope you all had lovely holidays. See you real soon.

One thing leads to another

A friend of my mom's told about the day she noticed some dust on the window sill of her laundry room and wiped her finger in it to see how thick it was; pretty thick, so she got a rag and dusted it, then noticed how dirty the windows were so she washed them; which led to washing the curtains, which led to sweeping the floor, but before she could do that she had to put away a whole bunch of things that were out of place; and before she knew it it was time to fix supper! I was teen at the time and hadn't yet had one of those days.

Ever have one of those days?

Just wanted to announce that my laundry room is clean and tidy again. We've had the cats in there because of the extreme cold and our Tim had barfed in the laundry sink and on top of the chest freezer. That is what started it all. Cleaning up that led to sweeping, which led to moving things around and putting things away; I cleaned the litter box before we could smell it; and found a kitchen cabinet door I had taken off that still had the handle on it which I removed and put on the drawer where the handle (wooden) is stripped. Whew. Got everything put away, all the dust swept up and the room looks roomy again! Now I can start on the actual laundry.

Although I'm behind on my other work, I thought that unclogging the laundry room was a good use of my time for this morning, what with the snow falling outside and all.

Downsizing, Minimizing, De-Cluttering, De-Junking, etc.

So far this month I've gotten rid of 145 things. Actually it's more than that, but I didn't list every single piece of paper, and I didn't list every pair of socks and each t-shirt I cut up for rags. But I feel good about getting rid of those things, and without looking at the list, I can't even remember what they all were. That's how excess they were.

Of course, there are still a million (not much of an exaggeration) to go. And this exercise is like peeling a huge onion, finishing a layer simply reveals another. However, having been through my sister's and then my mother's death, I'm determined not to leave my children a mess to go through. I can just hear the laughs and sighs and the complete bewilderment: "Why did she save this?"

I'll just press forward and make weekly trips to the thrift store to donate all the usable stuff for someone else to buy and enjoy. I'm tired of feeling confined by my clutter. I truly want to feel free and light. It's not easy to overcome "keeper" habits. If you know of any good sites that encourage and applaud, please share them.

Daily Decluttering Mission

I follow the Blog 365 Less Things and finally decided to do what is suggested each week as a daily mini-mission. Sort of a search and weed out (rather than destroy) mission.

This week's emphasis is on reducing multiples. I'm swapping Tuesday for Monday as I was already going through my boxes of curio cabinet treasures and dishes today. The travel souvenir stuff is not accessible presently.

Tuesday – Glass items ~ Vases, plates, bowls, drinking glasses…


Here's the results for me:

An assortment of things that I no longer want, either because my tastes or needs have changed. These items will be added to our yard sale. Which, as you can see below, is getting bigger each day, and still doesn't include all the large appliances and furniture, not to mention all the clothes. I will be glad to get rid of it all. What doesn't sell will be taken to a thrift store.

Monday De-Cluttering

Michaela over at Scriptorium Blogorium has a wonderful post today about "false projects" that really hit the nail on the head for me. I'm making progress by not bringing home anything that needs to be mended (I used to do that), but now I need to get rid of the backlog of projects that are too much trouble to complete, or not useful even after completing. I am not required to complete every darn thing I ever began in the past! Especially if a long time has passed and nobody would use it anyway (Barbie clothes come to mind here).

So a huge round of applause and a big ol' thank you to Michaela!!!!

It's a Mental Thing, and other news

I made a new batch of hand lotion today from a bunch of odds and ends. Several weeks ago I decluttered an area that is extremely easy for me: The medicine cabinet and toiletries stockpile. This area is easy because I don't have emotional attachments to itch creams and expired prescriptions. I threw away lots of stuff and junk, pulled together all the first aid supplies so I can see where the holes are; and organized what's left so I can find it when needed. Now I'm working my way through the shampoo and conditioner from hotel stays before I buy more, and I'm happy to know that I don't have to buy bath soap for the next year or so. I do, however, need toothpaste!

Today I gathered up all the oddball lotions and the almost empty bottles from around the house and stirred them into one luscious pot of fruity smelling rich lotion. I bet I can go another whole month before I have to open the big new bottles in the stockpile. I love saving money!

Decluttering and dejunking is difficult for me because through all the years of being "poor" (read-in debt up to our eyeballs) I have developed a scarcity mentality. It's very similar to the old folks who grew up in the Great Depression--better hang on to this, I may need it. I DO NOT like this mental state, but I'm not sure how to overcome it. However, I'm determined to keep working on it.

In other news, I'm working on Noble's 2012 Easter Dress; however, because it is a surprise for her I can't give any previews. Look for it the week of April 9.

I recently got some books from the Library, among them one called "The dirty life - A memoir of farming, food and love" by Kristin Kimball. Totally wonderful book! She a New York City journalist who goes on assignment to Pennsylvania to interview a farmer on a Community Supported Agriculture farm. Somehow during the interview(s) they fall in love and end up moving to New York state and buying a huge derelict farm and begin working it using giant Belgian draft horses and hand labor. Kristin has a delightful voice and witty turn of phrase (kind of reminds me of "The Egg and I" by Betty MacDonald). I laughed out loud, cried real tears and felt my heart swell. But then I like this kind of book. I highly recommend it, especially if you like memoirs, this one is great.

De-Cluttering Monday

Noble introduced me to Miss Minimalist last year. Although I'm not ready to downsize to 100 items and live like a Nun, it has helped me to move in the direction of owning less.

Two other factors have come into play recently. One was helping my mother, and sisters-in-law, clean out my younger sister's room after she died. My sister was confined to a wheelchair most of her life. She had several hobbies and interests, all of them heavy on the stuff. She loved make-up and nail polish, and had tons of both, along with dozens of bottles of perfume and bath products. She was a "Stamper" and had hundreds (maybe thousands, since I'm not sure what they cost) of dollars worth of stamps, ink, paper, paper cutters, doo-dads, and such. All her life she'd been given stuffed animals and had kept most of them. She never got rid of clothes as she outgrew them. We must have had a dozen large garbage bags of clothes to go to the charity shop. Oh, one other thing she loved was jewelry, she could have opened a store!

Helping my mother sort through this and bag it up was interesting. To me it was just junk to be gotten rid of, for my mother it was all kinds of memories. What it taught me is, of course, that we leave all our stuff behind when we go home. I knew that, but had never gone through the actual clean out before. Second, that the most valuable things to leave behind are not material goods; it's the journals and photo albums (if they are well labeled) that are the most valuable, as they are a record of a specific life lived. I have often wished my grandmother's had left journals and photo albums. I don't feel I know them well enough. My father and grandfathers each have written a personal life history; those are precious volumes to me. My dad has been really good about putting together and labeling photo albums. My mom is currently working on her life story.

Clothes, dishes, jewelry, knick-knacks, toys, hobby supplies, furniture, music cd's, DVD's, and any other personal belongings usually get divvied up, sold, donated, or trashed. Unless it is an unusual piece or it has specific sentimental value to another family member, it is simply excess junk.

The other factor in moving me toward a less encumbered life has been children leaving home. I don't need so many things in the kitchen, or the linen cupboard; outgrown games, toys, and books can be donated; the fact that we live in a much smaller house than we did five years ago helps too. There just isn't room here for all my "stuff." Plus, the fact that some of it has been packed up for the past three moves means I probably can get along without it. I also want to get rid of the cost of our storage unit. Little by little I'm proceeding toward my goal of a place for everything and everything in it's place.

Today I went through my kitchen cupboard where I keep serving bowls and such. I removed duplicates and excess, reminding myself that I have enough and some things can serve in multiple ways. I rearranged what was left and it sure feels good to have more room in the cupboard.

Our town has a community-wide yard sale in the Spring so I'm preparing for a big sale. Whatever is left will be taken to my favorite thrift store.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Elder PW - He's 21 today!

I Believe in Evolution

No, not THAT kind of evolution, sheesh, what kind of a woman do you think I am?

I'm talking about the kind that happens when I set a goal, begin to pursue it and realize that there are obstacles to reaching that goal that must be removed before I can move forward.

In December I wrote down a wonderful schedule that I wanted to pursue in the new year. Every day of the week would be devoted to a specific activity, such as sewing, photo albumming (I know that's not a real word but humor me), etc. Last week I thought I got everything ready to begin following the schedule this week. Am I making sense? Yesterday I did a big thing on my Monday=de-junking, de-cluttering, and de-filing day. Today I'm supposed to be sewing, but my sewing room is still a mess, and I've been reading blogs about de-junking and minimalist living and the like. This morning as I made my bed and folded a basketful of undies, I evolved a bit and decided that I am really motivated to de-junk and de-clutter and de-file (it has to rhyme and be alliterative so humor me some more here) right now. So will anyone be upset if I work on all the de's while I have the motivation?

Thank you.

De-Junking on a Large Scale

We live in a 90 year old house. The little old lady (and just as an aside, when I was working in Salt Lake City a long time ago in 1981, the receptionist called them LOL's), anyway the little old lady who lived here before us had carpet in every room, put in probably in the sixties. I've slowly been ripping it out to reveal the wood floors beneath.

Interestingly there are oak floors on the main level and pine upstairs. Today I worked in the room vacated by JET. It was the only room where the carpet and wallpaper actually coordinated and looked decent together.

This room is top floor, front of the house, facing south west.

 I really like the old doors in this house, with their original hardware.

I began pulling up the carpet and most of the petrified foam pad stayed on the floor:

This is the trail left by me dragging the rolled up carpet out of the room:

I swept up the crunchy debris, using a wide putty knife to pry it from the floor in some spots:

Then scooped it up into large trash bags:

After a thorough sweep and wash the golden pine floors look wonderful:

When Dandylion leaves, this will become my sewing room.

Ah, a job well done.  Isn't the sunshine pretty on the floor and door?